Find out what Council Leader Andrew Burns thinks 2013 has in store in his New Year message, which was in today's Evening News.

2013 may be
considered an unlucky year by some but I think it holds much promise for both
the Council and the city as a whole, and it will be the Capital Coalition's
first full year in which to deliver on the promises we made to the people of
Edinburgh.

Managing our money

2013 will
see our first budget, set in February, in which we fully intend to show how we
have listened to the comments we received before and since the Council election
last May.

Of course,
there's no escaping that the economy continues to really struggle across the UK and further
afield. There was always going to be long term impact on the public sector from
the banking crisis and recession that began in 2008, but the slow recovery
makes it even harder. While this will be difficult, we do still spend the best
part of £1billion pounds in Edinburgh
each year and we have to focus on getting the best possible outcomes for that.

Edinburgh's Economy

One small,
but very significant, contribution the Council has made towards supporting
people in tough economic times is the introduction of the Living Wage for 2000
of our lower paid staff. We'll be looking at ways of extending this to people
who work for other organisations that provide services on behalf of the Council
and hope that our lead will encourage other employers to do the right thing.

We will
also continue the success of the Edinburgh Guarantee, which has been helping to
get school leavers into work, training or further education. Edinburgh has not done well compared with
other areas in making sure young people have a 'positive destination' after
school. While our partnership with local employers and others has paid
dividends so far, this remains a priority.

Two
exciting developments to look forward to in the spring are the opening of the
EICC extension and the 'Atria' high quality office development next door. Both
will play an important role in keeping Edinburgh 's
economy buoyant.

Local involvement

Whether in
difficult times or not, a good local authority must show that it is listening
to the views of its citizens in how it delivers services. We have already
improved how the Council goes about making decisions, including the new
petitions committee, which provides an excellent way to influence what we talk
about based on community support for an issue.

While there
is much good about our system of Neighbourhood Partnerships, we think this can
be strengthened to give local people a louder voice in how services in their
areas are provided. We'll be talking more about this in April when we're due to
get the recommendations on how the partnerships can be improved.

Further tram progress

In 2012 the
tram project continued to make good progress in its revised timetable and
budget. I expect this to continue in 2013. Please be assured that we do not
underestimate the strength of feeling about this project and the problems it
has caused. But I firmly believe that the best course of action is to finish it
for the sake of Edinburgh 's
economy and transport network.

Property conservation

The Council
has long played a role in helping to look after the maintenance of the city's
shared properties, such as tenements. But we know some changes are required
there and next year we'll have a new service. As I write, councillors are
considering what they think this should look like, with the changes beginning
in the spring.

Reasons to be cheerful...?

Overall,
I'm approaching 2013 with a cautious optimism. If nothing else, it would be
good to have a better summer to bring us all some cheer! More seriously, we at
the Council will be working really hard to make it an excellent year for Edinburgh , regardless of the
challenges we face. There will be regular reports on how we are doing in
meeting the pledges we set out last May. In the meantime, I wish you and yours
all the very best for the year ahead.

This entry was posted by Media Team on 03/01/2013.

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